Digital Social Hour
Westin Smith: Investing Secrets That Could Make You $18 Million From $100k | DSH #1626
17 Nov 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
But whatever you have in those accounts, imagine making 60% every single year. Well, it'll 60K the first year. The next year you're investing 160K. So it's going to be like 200. And if you do the math, if you invest 100K after 10 years, you'll have about 18 million. Dude, off 100K? No, that doesn't factor in inflation or tax.
Yeah, if you put it into investmentcalculator.com, 100K one time, no additional contributions every single year. Just have a compound. That's 18 million.
Chapter 2: How can $100k become $18 million in 10 years?
Okay, guys, we got Weston Smith on today. I think he's the first guest from Iowa. We'll have to fact check it, but I think he's either the first or second. So thanks for the flight over, man. Yeah, no, thanks for the invite, man. So happy to be here. I love your show. You got some really, really high caliber people here.
Chapter 3: What is the significance of compounding in investing?
I'm just happy to be in the same chair as them. Yeah, all suited up too.
Chapter 4: How can you pay zero taxes legally?
I love the brown. Yeah, I mean, this isn't my first real podcast, so it got to look good. Let's go, baby. I'm getting married next month and all my best men are wearing brown. Oh, yeah? It's a cool color, right? Yeah, I thought it was kind of different. Yeah, I love it, dude. Well, you've been in Iowa for a while now? Yeah, man. So I was born in Nebraska.
And then actually kind of cool story, different story. My mom and dad never married. So my dad lived in North Carolina and my mom lived in Nebraska. So every six months, I'd actually fly back and forth.
Chapter 5: What strategies can help achieve 60% returns on investments?
Whoa. Until about... Four, I think. And then, yeah, both their families are from Iowa. So they decided, hey, let's just live in Iowa.
Chapter 6: What mistakes should you avoid when investing aggressively?
And yeah, been there since, again, four or five or so. And I know you were in the military. Was your dad part military? No, I was the first one. Well, actually, I wasn't the first one, but I was in the Army. My dad was not. I did have a grandpa that fought in the Korean and Vietnam War in the Navy.
And then my great grandpa, he was a tanker in World War II, and he actually saw Mussolini being hung. No way. He has a picture of it.
Chapter 7: How does Weston Smith define wealth building?
What? Yeah. How'd they take a photo back then? Oh, they got pictures and cameras. They had like war reporters and stuff back then for sure. But yeah, he saw literally Mussolini being hung. So, I mean, we could probably give that to a museum or something. Dude, that is nuts. Right? You should auction that off.
Chapter 8: How does Weston Smith view the role of trust in financial growth?
No, that'll stay in the family for sure. But yeah, I was in the army for eight years. So your grandfather pushed it or you kind of made that decision on your own? So, yeah, the tanker grandfather, he had passed before I was even born. Yeah, it was just kind of something in me that I always wanted to do. I can't really explain it.
I was happy where I grew up here, wanted to do my service, and I would have kept going, but there's so much red tape and bureaucracy. Yeah, politics. Yeah, man, I can't stand it. Eight years, so that's two terms, right? Um, so actually they keep elongating the term, right? So world war two, it was like two years and then it was four years and then it was six years.
And now it's when I was in, it was eight years. So you did six active and two inactive. Oh, wow. So that's one term. It's one term. Holy crap. So you can, there's always a way out of it. You know, you medically discharge, get hurt or whatever. Um, but yeah, I thankfully it was safe through the whole thing. And, um, yeah, so yeah. Six active, you do your service, do your time, do your thing.
And then two inactive where really they'll only call you if like World War III happens. Got it. And it looks like that might happen. It might, but they can't call me anymore, man. You saw that. I don't know if you keep up with it, but Hegseth called like a big meeting a couple of days ago. Yeah. I mean. That's kind of concerning.
They've been saying that since like North Korea first got their missile capability. So if it happens, that would be very, very bad. And we got a lot more things to worry about if that happens. But I think America would be OK just because, I mean, we are the greatest superpower in the world. How hard was it reintegrating with normal society after those eight years? Uh, so I was in national guard.
So I did, uh, signed up when I was 17 and then, you know, I went to school. I did still went to college, got my degree living civilian. And then dude did the, you know, one week in a month, two weeks of summer type of thing. That's what they tell you, but it's usually like a month out of summer.
And then, yeah, like two to sometimes three weekends a month, depending on what we're doing, what we're training for. So I wasn't active. I was just active, uh, meaning that I was still going to do those trainings. Got it. Okay. Yeah. There's national guard, there's army reserve, and then there's active duty army where you go, you go live on the bases, you know, you do that, wake up four 30.
Yeah. Okay. So it wasn't a big change for you. No. Yeah. It was like, yeah, it was not like very hard. And now I believe you can have companies on the side while you're serving, right? Yeah. I mean, they'll pay for your school. They used to be 100%, but again, government making cuts. It's like less and less each year now.
So I think that was the last year where they fully paid a state-covered, state-sponsored school. Got it. Wow. So private school, they never will pay 100%, but they'll usually cover just tuition. Room and board was on me. So- Yeah, that was... So they covered your school. And when did you start your company, Fortis? Was that after or was it during?
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